Thursday, April 8, 2010

Automatic Mother Custody

This is taken from page 35 in the book 'Taken into Custody' by Stephen Baskerville.

Contrary to popular perception and what limited media attention it does attract; the problem is deeper than simply bias against fathers in custody decisions. Such bias certainly exists. This is despite statues and constitutional rulings prohibiting gender discrimination in family courts. No official figures are available on the gender division custody awards; though it would be a simple statistic to compile, because judicial interests lobby to prevent such records from being kept. Yet despite formal legal equality between parents, it is generally agreed that some 85 percent to 90 percent of custody awards go to mothers. “Although patterns may vary from state to state,” concludes one scholarly survey, “it appears that, over all, mothers obtain sole physical custody ten times more often than fathers.”

One scholarly analysis of a feminist dominated study published by the Massachusetts Supreme Court reached these conclusions.

Mothers get primary residential custody 93.4 of the time in divorces

Fathers get primary residential custody 2.5 percent of the time.

Fathers get joint physical custody 4 percent of the time.

Fathers get primary or joint physical custody less than 7 percent of the time.

One peer-reviewed study found a clear preference among judges in four states for maternal custody. An office of the Virginia General Assembly reports that 96% of custodial parents are mothers and 4% are fathers. In Arlington, Virginia, over an eighteen month period maternal custody was awarded in 100 percent of the decisions.